LOVES PARK — The 37th Rockford Pro-Am will look a lot like the 36th, starting with headliner Kenny Perry coming to Forest Hills Country Club for the 10th time.

That’s by design.

“We all decided if we could have had the 20 pros we had last year, we would have been more than happy to have them all come back and not worry about it,” said Adam Nicholas, who signs the pros for the Pro-Am. “Since then, we’ve had the players who were here do unbelievable things.”

Recent Illinois grad Luke Guthrie leads that charge. He has won $1.6 million in less than a year on Tour. Former NCAA champ Scott Langley is another recent Illinois grad faring well, and D.A. Points is a former Illini ranked 47th in the world.

Loading up on Illini is a good way to find golfers who stay loyal to the Pro-Am even after they hit it big. “Illinois just won their fifth Big Ten championship,” Nicholas said. “It’s a well that we’d certainly like to go back to.”

Brittany Lincicome replaces Stacy Lewis as the Pro-Am’s young LPGA star. She leads the LPGA in driving distance at 274 yards.

“I think everyone will be excited to see her crank it out there,” Nicholas said.

Josh Teater, 37th on the PGA money list this year; Charlie Beljan, 75th in the World Rankings; and Patrick Reed, who played for Augusta State’s two-time NCAA team champions, lead the list of six new golfers. Ten holdovers are back, and four more will be added. Probably more up-and-comers, a strategy switch the Pro-Am made several years ago because it was cheaper than bringing in bigger names who were past their prime.

Tournament director Judi Sheley didn’t want to make that switch.

“I was wrong,” she said. “These young people have stepped up so much. It’s been absolutely the right fit. We still need a headliner, a name that people recognize, but there are going to be people who come out this year to see Luke Guthrie because they saw him last year when they didn’t know who in the world he was. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful fit.”

The other pros signed so far for the July 14 tourney: Ryan Palmer, Ken Duke, Tommy Gainey, Chris Riley, Skip Kendall, David Hearn, William McGirt and Troy Matteson.